


Break a Leg

by Lysical



Series: Prompt Fics [2]
Category: Batman (Comics), DCU (Comics), Red Hood and the Outlaws (Comics)
Genre: Artemis and Bizarro are protective of the little one, Gen, Team as Family, he's fragile okay
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-25
Updated: 2017-02-25
Packaged: 2018-09-26 20:16:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,422
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9920657
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lysical/pseuds/Lysical
Summary: Jason is fine. Really.Artemis disagrees.--"I'm sorry I worried Bizarro," Jason said, "but I’m fine."He really was trying to drive her insane. "If you say that word one more time I will break your other leg."





	

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt fic for anon who requested Jason getting hurt on a mission and Artemis and Bizarro panicking over how fragile their little one is compared to their superhuman selves. 
> 
> This went slightly off prompt because some of it is similar to something I've included in other fic I'm working on. Hope you enjoy, anon! 
> 
> This is not explicitly set in the same continuity as [A gang, a flight, a colony](http://archiveofourown.org/works/9538124) but yeah it basically is. It is not the promised sequel which I'm still working on and possibly quietly waiting for the next issue of RHatO to decide how joyfully I'm going to deviate from canon.

"I'm fine." 

"Stop talking," Artemis ordered. 

The little one's jaw snapped closed and he turned away, mulish. She rolled her eyes. It had not been a good day. It never was when they walked into a trap and were almost blown up, but Artemis was used to the occasional attempted murder and sabotage by now. No, the reason her teeth were grinding and her fingers tapping against her hip in agitation was entirely due to Jason and his complete and insufferable inability to disclose important information regarding his health. 

Like the fact that one of his internal organs had been trying to explode. 

The building falling on top of them had apparently aggravated it to the point of 'he's lucky you got him here so fast' and emergency surgery and now he had the nerve to sit there, looking like he was two seconds away from keeling over again, and insist he was fine and should be discharged immediately. 

Fine. 

She should ban the word from his vocabulary. 

"You worried Bizarro," she said, once she'd reigned in her temper and the tiny nurse had checked all the wires connecting the little one to the beeping machines that were vital to his continued health. She knew they were vital because she had spent a good hour interrogating his doctor and literally every nurse that dared approach about each of them and their purpose. 

She wasn't paranoid. They had been abducted by a mad scientist several months ago and now needles made her nervous. It was a completely rational reaction and did not mean she was scared, no matter how much Jason teased her.

"I'm sorry I worried Bizarro," Jason said, "but I’m fine." 

He really was trying to drive her insane. "If you say that word one more time I will break your other leg." 

The building falling down on top of them had done more than aggravate his preexisting condition. He was lucky the right leg was the only broken bone. 

He poked his tongue out at her. 

Honestly. 

"You will listen to the wisdom of the doctors and follow their instructions exactly until they deem you fit enough to release from their care." She glared at him until he looked away again. "If you do not I will get Bizarro to lecture you." 

He hunched his shoulders and scowled. Bizarro did not lecture so much as turn very big, very sad eyes on his target and ask them very quietly why they refused to accept his care. It was fiendish. It was effective. 

It had kept Artemis confined to a bed for three days to recover after the disaster that had been their trip to Australia. A new record of convalescence for her. 

"He was very concerned," she said. "You are so delicate, after all." 

Jason rolled his eyes and flopped back against the hospital bed in a dramatic sprawl. Bizarro was perpetually worried about the little one's health. Bruises were common, broken bones less so, but it had been the incident several months after they had first become a team that had truly driven home how comparatively fragile their human companion was. 

That incident had involved a punctured lung, poison and a dangerously high fever. Together it had sent her and Bizarro into a panic and resulted in them abandoning the mission and making an emergency call to the little one's family, the end result of which was Batman descending on the hospital they'd dragged Jason to and, quite frankly, scaring everyone in the building near to death. 

Artemis herself refused to admit she'd even for a second found him intimidating. Bizarro still refused to be in the same room as the man, even months later. The little one had no memory of the incident and only bits and pieces of the week that followed and refused to believe that the both of them were not exaggerating.

"I'm climbing out the window the second your back is turned," Jason finally muttered. 

"I can stand here all night," Artemis replied, raising an eyebrow. "Just try me." 

The little one fell asleep an hour later. Artemis remained standing as sentry for the remainder of the night, as promised, until Bizarro arrived in the morning to relieve her. 

***

Jason escaped the hospital within three days. At that point the fact that he was able to elude her meant he was more than ready to leave. Artemis found him back at their current safe house, hobbling around unsteadily while Bizarro trailed in his wake with his hands raised, ready to catch the little one should he trip over and fall. 

"What are you doing?" Artemis asked, narrowing her eyes. A duffel bag was on the threadbare couch, Jason shoving things inside it. Several more bags were on the floor beside the couch.

"Packing." Jason wrapped the PS4 up in one of his jackets and put it away. "Biz, we gotta stop hefting this thing around with us." 

"Red Him have guns, Bizarro have game," Bizarro replied, like he didn't make the little one play every game and simply half-watched while he sat on the floor and did watercolor painting. 

"Why are you packing?" Artemis asked, bracing herself for one of the little one's seemingly impulsive decisions that came from nowhere and left all in his wake stunned in the aftermath. The way the child’s mind worked was truly beyond her. 

Bizarro turned to her, slumping his shoulders. "Bizarro's fault." 

"It's not your fault," Jason said, zipping the duffel closed and moving on to the next. "It's Nightwing's fault." 

Artemis closed her eyes. "Nightwing is on the other side of the world." 

"Not anymore," Jason replied, with an overly sweet, false cheer and a grin that quickly morphed into a grimace. "Bizarro told him I was in the hospital." 

"Why?" The last thing she needed in her life was Nightwing showing up and judging her ability to keep the little one uninjured. It was an impossible task; he sought trouble the same way a magpie coveted shiny objects and was twice as tricky. 

"Bizarro promised," Bizarro replied. 

Artemis frowned. "I'm going to have a very long talk with Nightwing about taking advantage of Bizarro's kind nature." 

Jason paused. "By 'talk', do you mean 'fight'?" 

"I will not beat up your brother for you," she replied. "But I will threaten grievous bodily harm and if he smirks at me in that obnoxious way I'll probably punch him in the face." 

The duffel bag was set back on the couch. Jason sat down beside it. "Okay. I can wait." 

"Put your leg up," Artemis told him. "You shouldn't even be walking on it, did you not manage to steal some crutches when you escaped?" 

"Didn't need them," Jason said. His face was pinched and tense as he slowly raised his right leg and propped it up on the other end of the couch. 

"What do you mean? How could you get—" Artemis cut herself off and turned to Bizarro. He looked back at her with wide eyes and then clasped his hands in front of himself and stared down at them fixedly. Artemis took a deep breath. "Bizarro." 

"Red Him asked for help," Bizarro admitted.

Artemis glared over at the little one. "You are unbelievable. You were really going to just sit there and watch me tell your brother off when you did the exact same thing." 

He shrugged. "I'm always here for Nightwing getting punched in the face, hypocrisy or no." 

"I suppose it's a good thing Nightwing is on his way," Artemis said, grabbing the nearest duffel bag and continuing to pack. "I believe it's time we returned to Gotham to allow you to recuperate." 

"I will take any other city in the entire world," Jason said. "Arty, come on. Don't be mean. I just had surgery." 

"Five minutes ago you were hobbling around just fine." She straightened up and smirked at him. "But alright, if you insist. Any other city in the world; I suppose Bludhaven will do." 

"I walked right into that one," he replied, sighing and putting his head in his hands. "In my defense, the pain meds started wearing off an hour ago." 

"I'll get you some more," Artemis said. She turned to go retrieve the first aid kit from the bathroom and pointed a finger at Bizarro as she walked past. "Watch him." 

"I'm fine," the little one called after her. 

"When I get back in there I’m breaking your other leg!" 

Honestly. 

She definitely needed to ban that word. 

**Author's Note:**

> My tumblr is [here](http://lysical.tumblr.com) sometimes i post thoughtful things but mostly I flail about. And accept prompts.


End file.
